Yasas Abeywickrama elected to global ICT body

29 October 2015 03:12 am

Sri Lanka’s Yasas V. Abeywickrama was elected as a Councilor of the Board of the IFIP, the International Federation for Information Processing. 
It is the global professional federation of societies and associations for people working in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). 
This global organization was established under the auspices of UNESCO in 1960 and recognised by the United Nations, IFIP represents ICT professional associations from more than 50 countries and regions with a total membership of over half a million. 
It also brings together more than 3,500 scientists from industry and academia, organising them into over 100 Working Groups and 13 Technical Committees to conduct research, develop standards and promote information sharing. Based in Austria, IFIP organises and supports over 100 conferences each year, fostering the distribution of research and knowledge to academics and industry practitioners alike.
This is the first time in the history of 55 years of IFIP that a Sri Lankan was elected to the decision making body of this international organisation. It’s a great recognition and achievement as IFIP is clearly the largest international federation in the field of ICT.
The Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL) represented Sri Lanka at the recently concluded General Assembly Meeting of International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) held in Daejeon in South Korea, where the elections were carried out to fill vacancies. Accordingly two new Councilors were elected and one went for Sri Lanka, while the other position was won by Costa Rica. The new President Elect is Professor Mike Hinchey from Ireland.
Yasas V Abeywickrama is the Vice President of CSSL and also the CEO of Lanka BPO Academy. At a young age at 35 years, he has emerged as a professional and an entrepreneur with international recognition and linkages.
The new role will help Sri Lankan ICT industry as well as its professionals to connect with the global industry. Especially Sri Lanka’s ICT industry together with its Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is positioning itself as the destination for ICT/BPO work. In that background, global connections that put Sri Lanka on the map are critical in moving the industry to the next stage.